The Beautiful South

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After a few days back at Alan and Heather's to sort ourselves out and chill, including a trip to the Moonlight Cinema at King Park to watch 'Little Fockers', we picked up our new rental car from Avis this time and were delighted with our free upgrade, a much smoother, roomier and better looking Hyundai i30 meant our southern road trip began much better than our adventure up the north of WA. We got straight on the freeway and after a brief stop at Bunbury to see whether the Dolphin Discovery Centre was worth the money (we decided it wasn't), we made it to Bussleton, home of the mile long jetty, with an underwater observatory right at the end of it. When we got to the start of the Pier they told us the train which takes tourists to the other end wasn't running at present due to works on the track and that the last tour for the observatory started in 20 minutes, which meant a very brisk walk down the jetty. We asked for a discount but were knocked back. We made it dead on time, but after a problem with the card machine we missed the first 10 minutes – again no discount!

Once down in the observatory we could view the marine life under the jetty through a series of long windows bolted into a cylinder shaped enclosure which actually made us look more like the zoo animals and the fish look like the tourists! They didn't have to pay $28 each to look at us though! It was quite overpriced for what it was, but still very interesting to view life under the sea without requiring any heavy breathing apparatus. Once the observatory closed we wondered back down the pier at a much slower pace than before, watching all the fisherman and woman add to their already ample catches. As the sun started to set, we hopped back in the i30 and drove on down to Margaret River.

It's phenomenal how different the landscape is south of Perth compared to the north – the drive to and through Margaret River was abundant with lush greenery in every direction. There were hundreds more different types of trees and flowers compared to the bush of the north with its baron landscape and not a tree to be seen for miles. It also had a lovely town to match its natural beauty and after checking into a caravan park for the night, we had a look up the high street. As we did we got chatting to a lady who lived their after Jo befriended her enormous Rottweiler. She was incredibly friendly and even offered us a free room for the night but as we had already paid for a spot in the caravan park we passed up the opportunity.

The next morning, we got up an decided to do a spot of caving as this was one of the big attractions in the area. After speaking to a couple of ladies in the information kiosks we opted for Giant's Cave as it was one of the cheapest (obviously) but it was also one we could explore on our own, without a guide or any annoying tourists making noise and asking people stupid questions. We were given a short briefing, handed our helmets and torches and sent on our way into the darkness. Giants Cave had a huge opening with a long metal staircase leading into it. As you went down it looked like you were descending into the abyss, but as you got nearer the bottom, our eyes adjusted to the light and with out headlights and torches we could find our way. The pathway took us as deep as 85 metres underground and as we crept through the deep dark cave, we saw thousands of unusual shaped stalagmites and stalactites, whilst noticing that we became out of breath very easily due to the reduced oxygen. In the middle of the cave was a huge open expanse, which had been named the ballroom, as it resembled a big open hall, perfect for a rendition of the Waltz. We happily obliged and had our own little shuffle on the dance floor.

After that we had to navigate through some tricky climbs, narrow corners and steep drops, before finally we could see natural light again. The final climb out of the cave took us past some rather large cobwebs, so we didn't mess about.

Next on the agenda was a stop off at one of the hundreds of wineries in the area. We moved on to Pemberton and just before we got there found a beautiful place called Donnelly's by the River. In most of the wineries you can try a selection of their wines for free, but it does make you feel obliged to buy a bottle. We tested a range of whites and succumbed to the pressure and bought a nice bottle of Savingon Blanc as a gift for Alan and Heather.

Pemberton is most famous for its enormous Gloucester, Diamond and Bicentennial trees which are the largest and longest living in the world. Years ago they were used as look out towers to spot forest fires. Now there are still two trees in the forest which have hundreds of metal poles inserted in them in a spiral so that you can climb them all the way to the top. We went to the Bicenntennial tree first and gave it ago. This one is 75 metres tall with a viewing chamber at 25, 50 and 75 metres. Our shaking legs got us to the first viewing chamber, which seemed a lot higher from above than it did on the ground. There are big uneven gaps between each of the metal poles which have been stuck into the side of the tree in a spiral, with nothing below them to prevent you from falling, its amazing that people are still allowed to do it really. We wanted to say we got to the top but after pushing on another five metres or so above the first chamber we reluctantly gave up as our nerves got the better of us. It had also started to rain and the signs strongly advised us not to climb if it was raining. That was all the encouragement we needed to come back down!

We drove on to the Gloucester Tree which was pretty much the same kind of climb, so we briefly admired it, then moved on. We got quite lost before having to backtrack to find our way off the dirt roads and out of the forest but we were still able to enjoy the picturesque surroundings while we worked out which way to go. We made it to Warpole Backpackers Lodge as night fell, an unusual but likeable hostel with a rustic charm. We made some tea and watched 'Face Off' on the video recorder (yep no DVDs here!) with another English couple then headed for bed.

The next day we drove up to the Giant Tingle tree, which has a huge hollowed out centre that you could drive a car under, picking up a guy from our hostel on our way who was trekking up the hill. He was doing the Bibbulmun track trail which involves 1000km of walking back to Perth! Rather him than us. It explained while his shoes and socks smelt so bad!! We walked around a peaceful trail, which led us to the old tree with the burnt out middle and stood inside. The trail gave us an insight into the type of flora and fauna that had once occupied this forest from as far back as 250 million years ago, up to just a couple of thousand years.

The next stop was the Valley of the Giants tree top canopy walk. Which is huge iron construction which actually sways in the wind, or when annoying Japanese tourists bounce around on it! It allows you to walk through the top of a beautiful forest filled with the giant Karri trees, which can only be found in this part of the world. Such a stunning viewpoint to enjoy these amazing giants. Once we'd completed the 70 metre high canopy walk, we could enjoy another trail through the forest at ground level, weaving in and out of the hollowed trees, which continued to grow into the sky.

After we'd got our big tree fix we drove on to Greens Pool Beach in Denmark, which was absolutely beautiful. We walked around over the rocks, paddled in the sea and sunbathed for a while before checking out the elephant shaped rocks and moving on through the pleasant town of Denmark. We reached Albany by mid afternoon and were surprised to discover how big the town was compared to everywhere else we had seen en route. The original plan was to stay for a night then make it to Esperance but after chatting to Dan, the friendly owner of our Albany hostel, we decided it was too much of a stretch just for a nice beach. It would of meant an extra 4.5 hours of driving each way, plus the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it looked like drizzle and wind were going to be with us for the next couple of days. We soon decided to stop two nights in Albany and made the most of it by visiting the impressive rock formations, the not so impressive blowholes, the free parts of the Whale Museum and doing a spot of unsuccessful fishing with our new hand reel.

On Friday we headed back to Perth, stopping off to feed some playful Alpacas (llamas), making good time we got back in time for tea. The following day we dropped off the hire car and took a trip to the Perth Mint, which was conveniently just a few metres from Avis. We were surprised at just how good it was. We had two really good guides – the first told us all about the history of the Western Australia gold rush and the gold rush around the world. The history and value of gold and the largest nuggets in the world. The second gave us a demonstration of how the gold is melted in a furnace at over 2200 degrees centigrade before being poured into a mould to create a perfect gold bar. Inside inside were hundreds of gold coins, and other items made from gold and nuggets in their original form found from all over the world. You could even feel the weight of a gold bar worth $250,000.

On our last full day in Perth we did the supposedly essential trip to Rottnest Island. It's name comes from European sailors who landed on the island and thought it to be inhabited by thousands of rats. Rottnest actually meaning Rat's Nest, but as it turned out they were not rats at all but much cuter marsupials, called Quokkas, which are a small relative of the wallaby and kangaroo.

We took the train down to Freemantle at early o'clock, then caught the ferry to the island. Once we arrived we picked up our mountain bikes and went to explore. We headed to Georgie Bay first and settled there for some sun and swimming. It was a gorgeous sunny day as usual and before we left in search of some lunch we cooled off by flinging ourselves off the end of a short jetty into the salty sea!

We headed back to the town for fish and chips then went in search of the famous quokkas as we were yet to spot one. After roaming around in the bushes and cycling in the quokka hotspots we cam across one of the little blighters, we fed it with bread and soon after a second was sniffing around us. They were incredibly tame and also the slowest eaters ever, taking five minutes to finish off a tiny bit of bread. We decided we should also try a bit of snorkelling and went to find Palmers Point which was meant to be a good spot. But after a marathan bike ride in the heat which sapped all our energy we were disappointed to find that the beach was horrible. Virtually no sand to sit on and the sea was full of seaweed, rubbish and huge dead clams, not inviting water at all. We sat on the steps contemplated the tough ride back to the ferry port but were soon cheered up by a bunch of quokkas who came up to us in hope of a feed, with just 99% fat free rice crackers left, we didn't think they'd be that keen. But sure enough they all went for them and slowly munched away. We headed back on our bikes and were pleased to discover that the ride back was much more downhill than up so we could cruise back most of the way. By the time we got back to the ferry port people were already queuing to return their bikes, so we joined in, got back on the ferry and headed back to Freemantle. The next day we caught our flight from Perth to Cairns. Sad to leave the amazing West Coast, we wondered how the East would compare. To be continued...

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